The Oregon Faith Report - Faith News from Oregon

Medford pastor fights church sex offender rules.

July 11, 2012

Oregon Faith Report News Note:

Church Mutual insurance company was informed by one of its clients, Set Free Christian Fellowship, that known sex offenders were among Set Free’s congregation. The insurance company’s reaction was swift: sex offenders should be allowed to come to only one predetermined service per week, and they must check in upon arrival and be accompanied by a monitor the entire time they were present in the church.

Church Mutual insurance company was informed by one of its clients, Set Free Christian Fellowship, that known sex offenders were among Set Free’s congregation. The insurance company’s reaction was swift: sex offenders should be allowed to come to only one predetermined service per week, and they must check in upon arrival and be accompanied by a monitor the entire time they were present in the church.

Chad McComas, pastor of Set Free, sees such drastic measures as a recipe for driving away any sex offenders who might want to come. Sinners need Jesus, and sex offenders need Him too. Besides, any sex offender who tells the truth about his past is probably in the church because he wants to worship God and find the forgiveness offered in the Christian proclamation.

That doesn’t mean he poses no threat—but it does mean that he ought to be offered the benefit of the doubt while the church takes reasonable precautions to keep him out of temptation and to protect potential victims. Of course people who work with children ought to undergo background checks. But it’s not possible for a church to check out every person who visits, and it is simply foolish to follow the regulations demanded by Church Mutual.

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Not really sure why children need to be in church unless they have sinned so much that they need constant attention from god.

Churches should actually be turning away people who have not sinned… so they can concentrate on salvation for those who have.

But I am sure that along with being proud that Xtians worship the lower case T, jesus would be proud that sinners are not welcome to be saved and only those who are sinless are qualified to worship him.

Sinners
July 12, 2012

I am sure there are NO people without sin strolling the halls of Church Mutual. Everyone knows those disgusting pig dog cheeseheads are a bunch of perverts.

Robert Curtis
July 12, 2012

Churches being sanctioned on how they deal with their members is reprehensible and flies in the face of the founding principles of faith and forgiveness. I would not attend a church that conducted itself outside of those principles (as is required by some of these laws and regulations).

Why?
Well, remember the woman caught in the very act of adultery and was (by law) worthy of death? How did Jesus handle the matter? That’s right with compassion, wisdom and forgiveness by making a simple statement, “Let him that is without sin cast the first stone.”

These registrants remember have paid the debt for their crimes(time served, therapy and probation). That can’t be said of this woman sex offender (of her time) that got off Scott FREE by forgiveness.

Actually these people shouldn’t have to ask for forgiveness (in a worldly sense) because they’ve paid their debt to society.

Sinner
July 30, 2012

I praise this church and its pastor. I am a low level sex offender. I am unemployable and have a difficult time finding a place to live. I’ve have been asked to leave four churches when they found out I was a registrant. They always do because someone always GOOGLES my name. My current church took a vote on whether or not I could stay and it was 50/50. They let me stay and 40% of the membership left.